WE BOUGHT A FIRE STATION

If you follow us on social media then you’ve heard our BIG NEWS! For those of you who don’t, we’re sharing all the fun on our blog today. Yep, WE BOUGHT A FIRE STATION! This beauty (squint your eyes and you can see it) will be the future home of Urbanology Designs! I have walked, ridden my bike and driven by this property hundreds of times since I was a kid. It checked a lot of boxes: 1) It is in our beloved city (the heart of North Richland Hills). 2) It’s literally one mile up the road from our current location. 3) It has good bones, soaring ceilings and TONS of potential. 4) It is a multi-functional space…plenty of room for not only our design studio but additional offices and incredibly cool event space as well. With a massive renovation in store this old abandoned fire station will be full of new life and inspiring beauty!

The firehouse was built in the 80’s but has been unoccupied for many years. And trust me, it shows. The prettiest thing in it right now is probably the rusty generator (hello vintage). But we cannot wait to get our hands on this project! We love the idea of restoration because it points to the Father and how He rescues and restores us. Getting to turn something old (abandoned, broken and forgotten) into something beautiful (and loved) is…well, it’s a dream come true. The fire station will give my team and I the (much needed) space to dream, create, design and GROW. It will also meet a need in our community for event space, office space and a designer high-tech conference room.

The concept for our new space is simple but profound. An exterior renovation will include a major landscaping transformation and replacement of the 3 engine-sized metal doors. The doors will be replaced with stunning roll up glass doors that will flood the entire building with light. A dark cement stucco will cover the old and worn bricks livening up the building’s facade and giving it an urban, modern face lift. Fresh horizontal planks on the front elevation will add warmth and contrast to the stucco.

Inside, the open floor plan will be accentuated by soaring ceilings and will double as both a showroom and an event space for parties, meetings, classes, etc. This space will be available to the public for rent. We will add a second story loft and provide a co-working space on the other side of the building. The kitchen and bathrooms will be upgraded with simple and beautiful designer furnishings.

My favorite thing about this project is how multi-functional it will be. Several exciting highlights are the “engine room” (where I’m standing in the above photo). It will have a 16-foot glass sliding door that will overlook an outdoor work area complete with deck and pergola. There will also be fiveprivate offices for rent (more on that below). These two spaces will be joined by a shared conference/presentation room (also available for rent). Our “engine room” will showcase furniture and decor from our favorite brands and artists. In fact, the entire fire station will be finished by our vendor partners who are the BEST OF THE BEST! Everything from windows and doors to lighting, kitchen equipment, AV, furniture and landscaping will be completed by our incredible vendors and contractors. We cannot wait to see this place come to life and give our growing city some (much needed) meeting space and architectural inspiration.

Our tenants will have an incredibly inspiring work space! Each of the five offices will incorporate a unique design while maintaining Urbanology’s clean, modern aesthetic. Some will have brick finishes while others may have concrete or wood. Our fabulous collaborators will provide designer furnishings to uniquely finish out each space. If you are in need of a local, beautiful and creative work environment we would love to talk with you! We are currently accepting inquiries for office space at the Urban Firehouse. We plan to be up and running by the end of 2017 or early 2018. Please contact us at hello@urbanologydesigns.com or give us a call for more information.

This collage gives you an idea of what the exterior will be like…so dreamy!

Be sure to follow us on social media (Insta and FB link) to watch all of our Urban Firehouse’s progress and updates! We cannot wait to share more in the coming months…stay tuned!

Join the discussion 6 Comments

This is simply incredible! You had me at restoration pointing to the Father and I’m drooling at the idea of how incredible the design will be at completion. Kudos to you for an amazing idea and exciting execution. Good luck, I know it will be a blessed project for all!!

I hope to see this new use some day! I spent many of nights in this fire station responding to emergencies. What an incredible repurpose of a building. I have lots of memories, may you too have great memories.